Hackers are trying to deny Leslie Jones her basic humanity by targeting her because of her skin color

By Vanessa De Luca

|SPECIAL TO THE NEWS|

Aug 25, 2016 | 4:25 PM

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security investigators are looking into the hack of actress-comedian Leslie Jones' website. (Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)

The social media bullying that Leslie Jones, Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas and thousands of other black women have endured and continue to endure on social media has reached obscene levels. The more we speak up, the more others try to silence us.

What frustrates me is that with all that black women have going for them — we are now the most educated group in the U.S., and we start new businesses at six times the rate of other groups. And yet we are still stereotyped and maligned as uneducated, lazy, golddiggers, jezebels and baby mamas. The narrative has to change, because the narrative denies our lived reality, and therefore denies our humanity.

Colorism definitely played a role here, and it is deliberate that these bullies chose to pick on characteristics one cannot control, like the color of one's skin, because it is meant to make someone feel powerless. The irony is that as a comic, Leslie has had to develop a tough skin — hello? Comics get heckled — so why would they think she would back down from a heckler in cyberspace?

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There are similarities between what is happening to Jones and what happened to Douglas, who was slammed on social media for not having her hand over her heart during the national anthem at the Rio Olympics earlier this month. Both attacks centered on their outer appearance. With Douglas, people disparage her hair, that she doesn't smile enough; with Leslie it's about her facial features, comparing her to Harambe the gorilla from the Cincinnati Zoo. The commentary is usually racially charged.

What incidents like this tell us is that we are now seeing social media take a nasty turn. The outspokenness and forum for free, unfiltered debate these platforms once represented has deteriorated. The mean-spiritedness is intentional; it is designed to censor and marginalize entire communities — typically women, and specifically black women — whom some believe should not have a voice.

Yes, I've had bullies and trolls try to come at me in social media. At first I would try to reason with them; then I realized that it was wasted energy. So now I just block them; I don't have to subject myself to their abuse or their agenda in attacking me. I hope Leslie does not allow this vicious campaign to intimidate her, because if it does, the bullies will have won. I thought it was great to see so many women and men of all races supporting her in social media using hashtags like #IStandWithLeslie and #LoveForLeslie, etc.

Vanessa De Luca, Editor in Chief of Essence Magazine. (Michael Rowe Photography/Courtesy of De Luca)

The best way to deal with a bully is to stand your ground and use your voice and the voices of allies — to expose them for the cowards they truly are. That's the beauty of social media-we can and should continue to raise our voices. We must also hold accountable those institutions that tolerate this type of hate mongering in the name of free speech.

Vanessa K. De Luca is Editor-in-Chief of ESSENCE where she is responsible for overseeing the content and vision for the preeminent magazine for Black women, as well as ESSENCE.com, the daily online destination for African-American women.